Baidu Faces Controversy Over Death of Cancer Victim; Family to Sue

The family of Wei Zexin, a young man who recently died of cancer, will be suing the Chinese internet company Baidu for advertising false claims on their site.

Song Weiqiang, the legal representative of 22-year-old Wei's parents, said, "We sent a letter to Baidu on Tuesday to demand that Baidu respond. If the company fails to respond within a week, we will sue the company before October."

The family intends to also sue the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps, Kang Xin Hospital Investment and Management Company and Shanghai Claison Biotech Company. Zexin was treated at the Beijing Armed Police Corps Hospital.

After searching at Baidu and finding the available biomedical treatment at the Beijing Hospital, the family spent 200,000 yuan or $31,000 hoping that Wei will be cured. He died on April 19.

Wei was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that affects the neck, arm or leg joints.

The family has not received compensation or an apology on the matter, according to Song.

Baidu's CEO Robin Li claims that the company has already lost 2 billion yuan because of the incident. A public relations representative of the company denied receiving the letter.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said Baidu profited from paid listings in search results. The internet company did not clearly label listings as commercial promotion and users mistake the listing as objective and impartial.

The CAC ordered Baidu to change the classification of their search listings by May 31.

Baidu then commented, "We deeply regret the death of Wei Zexi and our condolences go out to his family.

"Baidu strives to provide a safe and trustworthy search experience for our users, and has launched an immediate investigation of the matter."